[sajid33]

now thats one on the face ! you gave it to them !
By the way i can still recall a petrol pump wala, always insisted i remain inside my car while he fills it up (most of the time,i'm without driver), on the first time, he was successful, but i caught him on the second time! For him, 10.05 liters were 10.50 liters ! and top of all, he was arguing with me! a flat slap and things went cool! no no problems at all on that pump!

[Geo_Ipe]

In Vellore, where I live, almost all the pump attendants make sure I look at the 'zero' at the beginning of filling. And I make sure I look at the reading at the end and then only do I pay. Probably these kinds of frauds are not too prevalent in smaller towns??

But hats off to Puntomania for standing up for his rights and reminding us that all hope's not lost in our country yet.

[john doe]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

And I make sure I look at the reading at the end and then only do I pay.

Exactly! Just make sure that you do not pay them before, or during the fueling process. One, to make sure you don't miss their tricks and two, you can just flat out refuse to pay ! Then who is losing , the car driver or the pump attendant?

[apachelongbow]

All decent pumps insist that you look at the zero reading on the meter before fueling, also they dont ask for payment/kinds of payment (cash or card) until the fueling has been completed.

[asr245]

Originally Posted by PuntoMania

If there's one lesson to take from this, its this : Dont be afraid to fight your fight, and never take things lying down. If someone has the audacity to rob you of your precious fuel money, the money that is used by you to do what you love most, DRIVE your car damnit, make sure you give someone hell for it ! Sometimes our little fights will not go in vain.

Drive safe.

Bravo! Well done!

And certainly some helpful links there. Plus glad to know that there are still some people left who actually have ethics and take their jobs seriously. Such people are facing extinction in India. Maybe we should create a "sanctuary" for such folks.

[sansvk]

Wow, this is great news and its happening in India! Congrats!

At the end of the day its your hard earned money that your spending.
I follow these rules as described in some other posts,
a) Try to fill at your regular pumps
b) Get out of the car, tell the attender the amount and fuel type.
c) Check for Zero on the meter, wait till fuel has been filled.
d) Pay only after the fuel has been filled per your advice.
e) Lastly collect the receipt, check the amount, litres filled and also check your fuel guage or DTE.

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by PuntoMania

1. If the transaction was made via a debit card, which involves direct transfer of money to the Pump owners account, how is ONLY the pump attendant responsible for the crime ? How does the pump attendant get his hands on money tat has directly transferred to the account ?

2. Why did the petrol pump refuse to give me the complaint book for 2 hours, and how do you ensure that this does not repeat ?

3. Why is the petrol pump not listed on your website or customer care ?


.

The Answer to Your first question is pretty simple Your card is swiped twice both transactions go into the account of the pump however the only person that knows that your card has been swiped twice is the guy who actually did it so he will very smartly then deduct the second transaction from the cash in hand and put it in his pocket. At the End of day the sales will tally with the cash in hand and in the card machine.

They refused to give you the complaint book because once you complaint the owner wallops the behind of whosoever you complain against and the company officials take the Dealer to task for not running the show properly, earliar when every one was hand in glove with the malpractices no one thought twice before giving the complaint book to the customer as they knew nothing would ever come out of it but now the staff knows that if a customer complains their happiness is scrwed.

The Pump is not listed on their website because most probably someone some where is pretty damm lazy in doing their job

[Rubbertramps]

Hats off sire.

But why so much fuss about the complaint book, when they can tear a page off the book the moment you step out of the bunk !!!

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by Rubbertramps

Hats off sire.

But why so much fuss about the complaint book, when they can tear a page off the book the moment you step out of the bunk !!!

Because each page of the complaint book is numbered, monitored and regularly audited. Also its a tamper proof book supplied by the oil company. Hence the pump guys cant tear off a page and get away without serious consequences.

[PuntoMania]

Thanks all for your kind words ! Its not the first time I've had to fight with crooks though , I have used similar methods to get my hands on a legal gas connection without bribing / buying their burner as well (more on that in some other thread).

As a matter of fact, this was the absolute first time someone ever cheated me at a petrol bunk. I normally follow a standard operating procedure each time I enter any petrol pump :

1. Roll up the windows, open the fuel cap, get out of the car and lock it
2. Stare at the meter like a zombie and ask the attendant to fill up.
3. If Mr "I can shine your car sir" comes up to me, I always interrupt him before his sales pitch starts "Haat mat laga meri gaadi ko" (Dont touch my car). Thats enough to scare them away.
4. If Mr PUC/Insurance walks up to me, I give him the 'Talk to my Hand' signal, all the while keeping my eye on the fuel meter and the attendant.

This day was no different. I was out of my car standing squarely in front of the meter, but inspite of this there's nothing you can do if the attendant stands right in front of your eyes waving around his swipe machine. I agree that I shouldnt have given him the card before the fueling finished, so thats one thing added to my SOP now.

The attendant chose the wrong day to mess with me. After all, as I mentioned earlier, I was out grocery shopping.

After 1.5 hours of driving a shopping cart in narrow aisles, with little kids banging their carts into me at every turn, and people blocking you at every possible instance, you are already at the edge of your patience. Whats more, my cart was not aligned properly and I was constantly wrestling with it to go straight ! GTO, we need a shopping cart review thread somewhere ! Leaving the sweet confines of my Punto to pushing a shopping cart can kill me with blood pressure.

Edit : Just attaching the latest status of my complaint to give you an idea of how the portal works. The last action taken was on 11th of April, and the status still shows as 'UNDER PROCESS'. I dont think any further action is expected though, since the IOC employee has asked me if there's anything that needs to be done from their end so that this particular issue is resolved, and I told them there's nothing else. Will keep you updated

[KL54]

In my opinion Kochi bunks arent as notorious as the ones in Bangalore. I only fill from the Mookens pump at Palarivattom if I can help it. The filling chaps are ok. When I ask them to fill my car, they just plug in the nozzle and go on about attending to other ppl. I have to call them back to take out the nozzle. Havent encountered any such problems yet!

[jfxavier]

I had never experienced this type of incidents till last month when I was in Bangalore. The routine of distraction, filling for a fixed amount instead of full etc. was tried. One thing that I can say from my experience is that NOT MOVING YOUR CAR is the best way to solve the issue to your satisfaction. It ensures that there will be loss of business and unwanted attention - both of which the pump owner will want to avoid.
I had to spent only approx. 10 mins. extra but it was the evening and a long queue had already formed behind me.
I guess they were trying their luck after seeing the KL registered car.

[amolathalye]

hi ,

Thanks so much for sharing it. I was not even aware that such things happen and that too in pune and not in some small town. I am quite pleased to see the way you dealt with the crooks. People like you leave some deep impression on such crooked people and hope they think twice before doing such crime. Its unbelievable that your complaint was handled well and the guy was fired. All the very best with your next fill.

regards
Amol

[Rajesh1968]

It is good that we have experiences documented here, but I am from Bangalore, and most bunks are sincere. IMHO, choose a non peak hour, preferable early morning or late evening, the attendant are free, also the tank below is also cool so that the fuel density is better and better mileage. I always ask the attendant to wait till I go over to the tank and ask him to fill only after I confirm, never handover keys, even if it cumbersome, it is always tank full to tank full, so there is no way he can swipe the card earlier. Choose COCO as much as possible avoid bunks which fill in for trucks on highways

[Desmosedici]

Good Stuff Buddy.

I always make it a point to fill fuel only from a known pump in my area. Have been visiting this pump since more than 10 years now. However i still am alert.

My SOP is

1. Ignition Off, Key Removed.
2. Fuel Lid opened.
3. Step out of car and stand facing the meter and the attendant.
4. Hand out the card and ask for bill.
5. Sign the card slip once fuel is filled and check fuel cap. I even ask the attendant "Barabar Bandh kiya na boss" (have you closed it properly)
6. Take the bill and zoom off.

How many of you ask for a bill at a Petrol Pump anyways? I always do, even if i fill for 200 bucks.